David → Volcán

[amw]

After posting my last non-meme entry from the bus terminal in Santiago, i jumped on a minibus to David. Having spent a couple nights in David before, i kinda knew what i was getting into. A town which is basically just one very large suburb without a clear commercial center, without any parks, without any tourist attractions, without anything

Comments

[geminiwench]

Is there nowhere to even buy Tajin to help you through your day?

Panama through your eyes (and tastebuds) sounds like a fuckin' wasteland.

Better or worse than housebound in the Canadian winter?

[amw]

I have seen Tajin once or twice here, but i haven't needed it because i still have some in my Ursack from when i was in the US and the "small" bottle was like a liter o' Tajin. I've also bought some of the local hot sauce, which is similar to Jamaican/Caribbean hot sauce. Some restaurants have that hot sauce on the tables too, but it reminds me way too much of eating in the midwest and getting excited that they had Tabasco. There's only so much improvement you can get by adding hot sauce to a bland dish.

However, your last point is a good one. Hanging out in various very low budget hotels/hostels in places where "cold" is much warmer than Canada right now... Yeah it ain't too bad by comparison. The only thing i'm really missing is cooking my own food. Perhaps i should suck it up and just get a month-long stay somewhere that has a kitchen so i can buy enough ingredients to cook for myself for a bit?

[geminiwench]

That would probably make you happier!

Hopefully you can find a grocer that has some interesting tropical ingredients or "foreign" ingredients so you can have the variety (and flavors) you love to explore without having to rely on the local fried bland fare.

[amw]

Because my 90 day visa-free is running out in Panama, i think this is a move i should make in my next place, wherever that will be. I guess it's time for me to start researching possible Next Destinations and trying to figure out the logistics and finance of maybe doing a longer stay... Of course i always procrastinate on that stuff because it feels like work. Sigh.

[dadi]

Hugs....that really sounds depressing :(

[siglinde99]

I’m sorry you are having such a rotten time. My experiences in Latin America were quite different. The car culture was definitely awful, and the challenges of going exploring on foot of by bicycle. I guess I didn‘t mine as much since my kids were small at the time. Also, I am not fond of hot food for the sake of hot. I enjoy the more subtle flavours of the foods themselves, and herbs/milder spices. I rarely use chilies at all. Maybe you would like Brazil better? It is still a heavily meat-based culture (like much of the hemisphere, the traditional cuisines have been undermined by generations of meat = wealth, and vegetables are risky because of unclean water) but the more fish based and African influenced foods of Bahia are pretty interesting. Also, there used to be a lot of “by the kilo” restaurants that were basically buffets. The veggies weren’t necessarily great, but they existed and rice and beans were plentiful.

[amw]

I have to admit i abhor buffets in US/Canada/Australia/etc but when traveling in other countries i am more open to them as cheap options. They're very popular over here, although the vast majority of the dishes are meat stews or deep-fried thingies. Usually i just get rice, beans, plantain and then if there is a half-decent looking vegetable or salad i'll get that too. Still not great, but as you say, better than nothing.

Brazil is an option, but they speak Portuguese there so i'm not sure how useful my Spanish-learning will have been. I figure if i'm leaving the Spanish-speaking sphere anyway, i might check out ABC islands instead, because i have a family link to the Netherlands so of all the places in the Americas to visit i am most interested to visit there.

[annaserene]

That sounds pretty dismal. It sucks it's so hard to get around and do anything. I hope you end up somewhere better soon